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Commission approves Gaudette variance after Corps‑permitted fill already placed
Summary
The commission approved a variance allowing Charles Gaudette to build a residence and guesthouse within a previously permitted fill area after staff and the applicant said Army Corps mitigation and fill work had already been completed.
Teton County commissioners approved a wetland‑setback variance for property owner Charles Gaudette after staff and the applicant said the Army Corps of Engineers had previously permitted fill and mitigation on the site.
Dan Lehman, the county’s new senior planner, summarized the application: Gaudette asked to build a primary residence and guesthouse within the county’s typical 50‑foot riparian/wetland buffer on a 20.28‑acre parcel zoned Lowland Agriculture (LA‑35). Lehman told the commission the entire parcel currently reads as wetland in recent delineations and that the Army Corps had permitted 0.24 acres of wetland fill under a 2019 permit (active through 2023).
Katie Salisbury, representing the applicant, told the commission the applicant had already placed the permitted fill under the Corps authorization and that the Corps approved building envelopes and a driveway as part of that permitting. She said the Army Corps review included a temporary construction staging area and a recharge‑wetland mitigation plan intended to recreate wetland function by concentrating irrigation recharge.
Commissioners asked for clarification about what work had been completed on site; Salisbury said a garage/boathouse exists and that all Corps‑permitted fill described in the application has been placed but the house itself had not been constructed. The applicant’s team said mitigation areas and pond work had been completed in accordance with the Corps permit paperwork.
Commissioners concluded the project reflected a grandfathered situation in which the federal permit and mitigation were in place before the county’s current land‑development code changed. After deliberation, the commission voted to grant the variance, finding the application satisfied applicable variance criteria subject to typical permit conditions. Votes were recorded by roll call as “aye.”
What happens next: The applicant may proceed with county permitting consistent with the approved variance and should ensure building permits fall within the previously permitted Corps impact area; staff indicated coordination with Corps documentation will be needed before issuing county building permits.
